(1600) Piscataway Native Americans live in the Washington D.C. area
(1751) The Maryland Assembly appoints commissioners to lay a town on the Potomac River, above the mouth of Rock Creek, on 60 acres of land to be purchased from George Gordon and George Beall. This settlement becomes Georgetown.
(1752) The survey and plat of Georgetown into 80 lots is completed.
(1787) The Constitution is signed by the members of the Constitutional Convention.
(1788) The 1788 U.S. Constitution, as adopted by the Constitutional Convention on September 15, 1787, is ratified by the states. Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17, gives Congress authority "to exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may by cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States...."
(1790)The Residency Act of 1790 gives the president power to choose a site for the capital city on the east bank of the Potomac River between the mouth of the Eastern Branch and the Connogocheague Creek (now Conococheague) near Hagerstown, nearly 70 miles upstream.
(1791) George Washington appoints Thomas Johnson and Daniel Carroll of Rock Creek, representing Maryland and Dr. David Stuart, to represent Virginia, as "Commissioners for surveying the District of (sic) Territory accepted by the said Act for the permanent seat of the Government of the United States...."
(1791) President George Washington selects a site that includes portions of Maryland and Virginia.
(1800) The federal capital is transferred from Philadelphia to the site on the Potomac River now called the City of Washington, in the territory of Columbia. At the time of the 1800 census, the population of the new capital included 10,066 whites, 793 free Negroes and 3,244 slaves.
(1801) Congress divides the [District] into the counties of Washington and Alexandria.
(1802) Congress grants the City of Washington its first municipal charter. Voters, defined as white males who pay taxes and have lived in the city for at least a year, receive the right to elect a 12-member council. The mayor is appointed by the president.
(1812) Congress amends the charter of the City of Washington to provide for an eight-member board of aldermen and a 12-member common council. The aldermen and the common council elect the mayor.
(1814) English troops burn the capitol and other federal buildings during the War of 1812
(1846) The Smithsonian Institute is established
(1862) Congress abolishes slavery in the federal district (the City of Washington, Washington County, and Georgetown). This action predates both the Emancipation Proclamation and the adoption of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
(1871) The elected mayor and council of Washington City and Georgetown, and the County Levy Court are abolished by Congress and replaced by a governor and council appointed by the president. An elected House of Delegates and a non-voting delegate to Congress are created. In this act, the jurisdiction and territorial government came to be called the District of Columbia, thus combining the governments of Georgetown, the City of Washington and the County of Washington. A seal and motto, "Justitia Omnibus" (Justice for All), are adopted for the District of Columbia.
(1874) The territorial government of the District of Columbia, including the non-voting delegate to Congress, is abolished. Three temporary commissioners and a subordinate military engineer are appointed by the president.
(1888) Washington Monument opens to the public
(1906) The District Building, on 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, becomes the official City Hall.
(1914) The Lincoln Memorial is completed.
(1961) The 23rd Amendment to the Constitution gives District residents the right to vote for president.
(1975) The newly elected Mayor Walter Washington and first elected council take office.
(1976) The first election for advisory neighborhood commissioners is held.
(1978) Congress approves the District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment, which would give District residents voting representation in the House and the Senate. The proposed constitutional amendment was not ratified by the necessary number of states (38) within the allotted seven years.
(1980) District electors approve the District of Columbia Statehood Constitutional Convention of 1979, which became D.C. Law 3-171 and which called for convening a state constitutional convention.
(1982) After the constitutional convention, a Constitution for the State of New Columbia is ratified by District voters.
(1987) The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is created to acquire Washington National and Washington - Dulles International airports from the federal government, pursuant to P.L. 99-151, The Metropolitan Washington Airports Act of 1986. The authority begins operating the airports on June 7, 1987.
(1992) Mayor Sharon Pratt Dixon, the first woman mayor, takes office.
(1995) Marion Barry takes office for an unprecedented fourth term as Mayor of the District of Columbia.
(1995) President Clinton signed the law creating a presidentially appointed District of Columbia Financial Control Board and a mayor-appointed Chief Financial Officer.
(2001) Terrorist attack destroys part of the Pentagon Building